Conference organiser’s handbook

I’ve written a Conference Organiser’s Handbook in which I share some of my experiences with organising conferences, and offer beginners the solid, practical advice that they need. It’s free; do whatever you like with it (except for copying it entirely to another URL).

Back in October I spoke at Front-Trends in Warsaw. A good time was had by all; it was a nice little conference, but I noticed that the organisers had made some tiny mistakes in the details. Before I left the conference I’d decided to write a handbook, so that other conference organisers would not make the same mistakes.

It took me quite a while to finish it. Officially it isn’t finished yet; I’d hoped to give the last pages an extra edit. Since it doesn’t look like I’ll have the time for that in the near future, and since the customary nine months for a pregnancy have passed I decided to publish.

The handbook is aimed at Europe, where a great whacking lot of local conferences are springing up. Front-enders in all countries want to invite well-known speakers and have two days of geeky fun. That’s an excellent idea that I love to support. The best support I can give is my experience.Despite being aimed at Europe, the Handbook will help people everywhere around the world. The rules are pretty much the same anywhere, though details (especially the financial ones) will differ.

So here it is. Read it if you’re thinking about organising something for yourself, or if you’re interested in how conferences work.